The prime minister of Iraq, Alí al Zaidi, has held a telephone conversation with the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in which both have addressed in detail the security situation in the Middle East. During the exchange, the Iraqi leader reiterated that Iraq will not authorize that its territory be used as a platform to launch offensives against neighboring States.
Throughout the call, the two officials reviewed the recent developments in the region and assessed the prospects for the next phase, agreeing on the advisability of strengthening coordination and bilateral consultations in the face of current challenges, as noted by the office of the Iraqi prime minister in a statement.
Along these lines, Al Zaidi emphasized the need to bolster regional stability, giving priority to the diplomatic route to contain tensions and prevent the conflict from spreading further. The head of Government insisted on Baghdad’s call to respect the sovereignty of States and to seek peaceful solutions through a “constructive” dialogue that protects the security of the populations in the area.
Both leaders also agreed on the importance of maintaining a constant communication channel and coordinating their positions on matters of common interest, with the intention of strengthening bilateral ties between Washington and Baghdad.
The conversation between Al Zaidi and Trump took place in a context of deadlock in the negotiations between Iran and the United States to end the war, and after Trump’s warnings about the possibility of resuming the offensive against the Asian country.
Since the start of the war in the Middle East, unleashed after the offensive launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against Iran, Iraqi authorities have repeatedly stressed that their territory must be kept out of the confrontation.
In response to that offensive, Iran has carried out drone and missile attacks against U.S. interests and against positions of Kurdish groups in Iraq, while pro-Iranian Iraqi militias have struck similar targets and even launched drones against other countries in the region. At the same time, Tehran and these factions have denounced the use of Iraqi airspace to carry out attacks against their territory.